Nashville, Tenn. (January 11, 2010) – General Manager of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team Brian Burke announced today that Predators defenseman Ryan Suter will serve as an alternate captain for the nation at the upcoming Winter Games in Vancouver. New Jersey forward Jamie Langenbrunner will serve as captain, while Devils forward Zach Parise, Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown and Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski will also be a part of the team’s leadership group. This is the second time Suter has worn a letter for Team USA – he was captain of the 2005 World Junior Championships squad.

This is the Madison, Wis., native’s first Olympics, but eighth time representing the U.S. in international play – he’s played in three World Junior Championships and four World Championships. In 2004, he helped the Red, White and Blue to their first-ever gold medal at the world junior tournament. For the Predators in 2009-10, the seventh overall pick in the 2003 Entry Draft held at the Sommet Center has 21 points, including 19 assists, which ranks among the defensive league leaders. He has appeared in all 45 of the club’s games, and leads Nashville in average ice time (24:01).

The Predators kick-off a three-game Western Canada swing tonight when they take on the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place (9:30 p.m. CT, FOX Sports Tennessee). After stops in Edmonton (Tuesday) and Calgary (Friday), the Predators return home to play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs for just the third time in franchise history next Monday – Martin Luther King Day – at 7 p.m. Tickets to this and all other regular season contests are now on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.